LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Monday

Aug 20, 2007 at 12:01 AM

J.M. McCauley's letter (Aug. 15) contained numerous errors. He said, "nearly 80 percent of the Measure 37 claims filed are filed by property owners seeking 10 or fewer lots." According to Portland State University's Measure 37 Database Development and Analysis Project, of the 7,562 claims filed through March 12, only 1,248 were for land partitions (16.5 percent), 2,753 were for subdivisions, and 3,492 respondents answered "none" or did not tell why they were filing the claim.

J.M. McCauley's letter (Aug. 15) contained numerous errors. He said, "nearly 80 percent of the Measure 37 claims filed are filed by property owners seeking 10 or fewer lots." According to Portland State University's Measure 37 Database Development and Analysis Project, of the 7,562 claims filed through March 12, only 1,248 were for land partitions (16.5 percent), 2,753 were for subdivisions, and 3,492 respondents answered "none" or did not tell why they were filing the claim.

He continues, "the opponents of Measure 37 spent nearly three times more money to defeat Measure 37 than the Oregon businesses supporting the measure." In fact, according to followthemoney.org, $2,727,838 was spent to defeat the measure and $1,542,838 to pass it, less than twice as much. Finally he said, "Much of the money opposing Measure 37 came from East Coast environmental groups financed by 'corporations.' " In fact, $2,160,213 of the money spent in opposition (79.2 percent) came from within Oregon. The largest single donation in opposition, $605,500, came from an Oregon winery; the largest donation in favor, $321,000, from an Oregon timber company.

I doubt Mr. McCauley knowingly gave false information. More likely he got it from sources with their own agenda. — Gary O'Neal, Gold Hill

I cannot let Richard Laquess' revision of history go unchallenged.

March 22, 2002, President Bush stated that "(Saddam) is a dangerous man who possesses the world's most dangerous weapons." Oct. 2, 2002: —¦ the Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency.

President Bush did lie: July 14, 2003, —¦did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in." Jan. 27,2004: —¦resolution 1441, unanimous resolution, that said to Saddam, you must disclose and destroy your weapons programs, which obviously meant the world felt he had such programs. He chose defiance. It was his choice to make, and he did not let us in."

Fact: Saddam admitted inspectors in November 2002. UNMOVIC conducted inspections until leaving prior to the U.S. invasion in March 2003. They requested more time. However, Bush blocked the request, choosing war over inspections. UNMOVIC inspectors determined that UNSCOM had successfully dismantled Iraq's unconventional weapons program during the 1990s.

Bush cherry-picked data to fit his plan. The intelligence community didn't get it wrong. The analysts correctly said that Iraq lacked WMD and wasn't a threat. — Eric Kees, Medford